Serial Entrepreneur Extraordinaire Howard Tullman (see my “All Things With Exuberance” entry) was interviewed by Crain’s. Here is the link to that video.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/TalkingManagement/Tullman.html
Howard has owned 11 businesses and is still involved with 5 of them. In this interview, he discusses some of the aspects of starting and managing a business. He teaches entrepreneurship at Kendall College.
A colleague told me earlier today that Baird & Warner has high expectations of me and my ability to produce. In fact, she wants to buy me lunch and “pick my brain” about how it is I do what I do. Of course it’s flattering. But the truth is they are making way too big of a deal about what I actually do on a daily basis. There is no silver bullet, no magic potion, no secret password that opens the door to success. There are only the small, daily things - easy to do, easy NOT to do - that, over the course of time, make all the difference. For example - choosing to eat an apple vs. eating a candy bar or walking for 30 minutes vs. staying in bed. At the time, the impact of one choice over the other is pretty meaningless. It doesn’t feel like eating an apple vs. eating a candy bar or taking that 30 min walk really makes much of a difference. But over the course of a year, two years, 5 - 10 - it makes all the difference in the world. Successful people just keep on doing the small, incremental things day in/day out that over time make all the difference in their performance and their ability to produce results. That’s pretty much it. Nothing too magical or glamorous about that. Doing them with passion and exuberance, of course, only helps things along.
“All Things With Exuberance!”
mary!
I was visiting the bloodsuckers over at LifeSource this morning. (That’s my euphemism for donating blood.) There isn’t much you can do during that time except watch TV - which I am notorious for getting “sucked” into. “Co-o-o-me here! Si-i-i-t down! Wa-a-a-tch me!” I swear - it takes me 10 sec to get involved in a program - and then I’m gone. Consequently, I have learned not to turn the darn thing on - so I’m pretty well removed from the cultural milieu of our society. I know it’s hard to believe, but wildly popular series have come and gone and I don’t know a thing about them. I hear people discussing them - but in terms of firsthand knowledge? - I have none.
I learned this morning while sitting with the vampires that there’s a morning talk show following Oprah called “The View” hosted by Rosie O’Donnell. I’ve seen snippets of Oprah - but I’ve never watched a whole show - and anyways I can’t help but know about Oprah because I drive by Harpo Studios almost on a daily basis. I know about Rosie mainly because of someone I know is best friends with her life partner - it’s a “one degree of separation” thing. And I bet Rosie doesn’t even realize that she’s only one degree of separation from knowing me!
Anyways, Rosie and this actress, who currently is performing on Broadway, were embroiled in the whole “our society doesn’t value art” discussion. The Broadway actress told this story whereby she took her (apparently one lone) TV set and dumped it in the parking lot of her bank. The point of taking it to the bank’s parking lot escaped me. Or exactly how dumping her TV only goes to prove that our society does not value art - I missed that one too. I guess I also missed “The Rest of the Story”. But now watch how this works: here these 2 people are discussing the evils of TV - and where was this discussion being held? Then let’s examine, for just a moment, where either one of them would be without the fame and fortune that TV has brought them. You have to ask yourself: how wise is it, anyway, to bite the hand that feeds you? Should the time ever come, I trust the bloodsuckers will be more generous than Rosie and her pal.
“All Things With Exuberance!”
mary!
I’ve been thinking about this “we’re going to make you a star, Mary Nack!” The assumption, of course, is that I WANT to be a star - or that I’m not one already (at least in my own mind). My best friend, who is a successful business owner and who doubled as a mentor when I owned mine, said something interesting to me the other day. We were talking about his son-in-law and how not everyone has the same definition of success that he and I do: ”you can’t be too thin or too rich”. I find that the younger generation particularly doesn’t share our definition of success. Baby boomers are notorious work-aholics and we are all about chasing the almighty dollar. (I wonder if that’s a result of being raised by survivors of The Great Depression?) The GenX crowd seems to understand intuitively that friends and family are more important. They learned that lesson by being raised as latch-key children as a necessity of us working ourselves into the ground and, at the end of the day, having no energy left over for them.
I’ve learned that I have certain “rules” about what has to happen in order for me to be successful. For one thing, it has to be earned through hard work. If it comes too easily, then it doesn’t feel right. Why should it have to be so difficult? As I get older, I find that I am less willing to work so hard - that I guard my personal time more jealously - and that I tend to get resentful when work intervenes with plans I’ve made in my personal life. Another thing that I find interesting about GenX is that they work hard on things that they are passionate about - otherwise… forget about it! There is much for me to learn from GenX.
The other thought I had was - where did that expression come from anyway - “being a star”?
“All Things With Exuberance!”
mary!
A friend called me out of the blue the other day and said he was writing a book on “The Seven Deadly Mistakes Realtors Make”. He asked if he could interview me. My reply was “Oh! I have a PhD in that subject!” He proceeded to ask me a series of questions and was apparently very intent on writing down what I was saying. I wasn’t prepared to be “interviewed” and so I babbled a bit. I nervously made a few jokes to which he didn’t respond - which only added to my nervousness. Later, I attributed that to the fact that he was furiously writing down what I was saying, but at the time I wondered if I had offended him. In fact, I asked, “You know that I’m kidding, right?” After a few minutes, he says, “OK, Mary Nack! Thanks a lot! You’re very quotable. We’re going to make you a star!” - Click. “Uh - Joe? Are you there? OK, bye!” My first reaction was, “Wow! That was trippy!” - Like the scene in “Pulp Fiction” where John Travolta drives the hypodermic needle of adrenaline into Uma Thurman’s chest.
I saw Joe this afternoon and chastised him (in a good natured way, of course) for not giving me a little advance notice so I could collect my thoughts a bit. He again reiterated that I was very quotable and repeated back to me some of the things I had said. “I said that!?” Maybe not being prepared was the best thing that could have happened - otherwise I might have gotten nervous and not been so “quotable”. When the book comes out next year, I’ll let you know. But it was, indeed, a little trippy!
“All Things With Exuberance!”
mary!
I had a transaction this weekend that was a real emotional roller coaster ride. At the end of the day, it all turned out well for my client - but it was very nip and tuck there for awhile. One prerequisite for being successful in real estate is that you have to enjoy the roller coaster ride. It doesn’t seem like much fun while you’re going through it. And when you think about riding an actual roller coaster, how much fun is it to be terrifed that you’re going to die? Strange definition of fun, no? And yet, there is nothing like the feeling of exhiliration when it’s over. ” Come on! Let’s do it again!”
It is said that traders in the trading pits get hooked on the adrenaline rush. So do real estate agents. I suppose it’s on a par with sky diving and mountain climbing. (I’m working off hearsay since I’ve never done either. They actually ask you that when you apply for life insurance.) Despite all the negative physical consequences of having adrenaline coursing through our bodies on a daily basis - even though we’re NOT being attacked by lions - for many people it’s one way to feel really alive. But it sure can be a tough way to make a living!
“All Things With Exuberance!”
mary!
I had an interesting situation this past week with a property that I am representing for sale. Back in November, a very low offer came in that we ended up negotiating within $15k - which represented a $100k price drop off the original asking price. On a $600k sale, $15k should be a spread that buyer and seller can meet on - but the buyer became entrenched at $600k and would not budge. I begged their agent to have them come up even $5k and maybe we could put the deal together. Sometimes, however, negotiations can deteriorate into having very little to do with money and everything to do with ego, “the principle” and psychological boundaries. If a buyer wants a property and is willing to pay $600k, they are usually willing to go another $5k or $10k, particularly when that price still represents a significant “bargain”. The difference is an extra $30-$60 month on their mortgage payment, which is not substantial at this price point. However, the buyer refused to budge and no deal was made.
Last week, they came back to the property. They now have their current home sold and need to find something pronto. They submitted a new offer BELOW what they had offered in November. This “negotiating strategy” absolutely enfuriated my seller. The buyer did end up offering the additional $5k that I had asked them for in November - and they may even be willing to come up another $10k - but my seller now refuses to accept it. The $605k or $610k that would have bought them the property in November is now not enough to secure it in February. My seller is doing to them what they did to him in November.
I don’t know how this will eventually resolve itself. Have buyer and seller won pyhrric victories? Both sides have ”proven their points” - but neither has accomplished their ultimate objectives. Emotions and “principles” have prevented both sides from making decisions that are in their best interests. My job is to give my client the benefit of my experience, advise him as best I’m able and help him be objective about the consequences of his decision. Beyond that, all I can do is sit back and watch what happens.
“All Things With Exuberance!”
mary!
